If your TiVo or DVR can't get enough of the syrupy charm of the former Alaska governor, you might want to install a memory upgrade.
Barbara Walters will do a sit down with Sarah Palin on the heels of her new memoir, Going Rogue, in a five-part series starting Nov. 17.
Five parts? Seriously? Wouldn't one suffice? She's only doing ONE interview with Oprah Winfrey and Oprah is the supreme overlord of the female television universe. Does "a five-part series with Sarah Palin" meet the textbook definition of overkill?
Sarah Palin has a memoir coming out next month, Going Rogue. And as part of what I'm sure will be a big media blitz promoting the book Palin will appear on Oprah.
This could be an interesting episode. Palin has not really talked at length since leaving her position as Governor of Alaska, and Oprah was a rather, um, huge supporter of President Obama's. Oprah is advertising the appearance as a "world exclusive," but I can't imagine that Palin wouldn't do other shows.
The episode will air on November 16. The book comes out the next day.
When you think of all of the products that Levi Johnston (ex-boyfriend of Sarah Palin's daughter and father of her baby) could do in his campaign to...do whatever he's going to do, I don't think the first thing you think of is "pistachios." But that's what he's pitching in the ad below.
(And not to get to graphic, but does the pistachio at the end remind you of anything? No, don't say in the comments.)
Joan Rivers was in Pasadena in July to promote her show on TV Land, How'd You Get So Rich?, but when I spoke to her after her presentation, I was more interested in a couple of issues. First, her longevity in a business that takes even older comedians and tosses them to the side (Cosby, for instance, is more community activist than comedian these days). Second, I wanted to ask her about her experience on The Apprentice, which included her feuds with wedding planners, Clint Black, and Annie Duke.
But, Joan being Joan, she also randomly let loose on Brooke Shields, Sarah Palin, and whoever else was in her mind during the ten minutes we spoke.
We start off by talking about longevity. She feels one of the reasons she stays relevant is that she doesn't live in the past. "I don't give a shit about Johnny Carson," she said.
No, I'm not talking about the first Darrin being replaced on Bewitched. I'm talking about real, big controversies that not only affected the TV world, but the real world, as well. AOL has chosen the 20 greatest TV controversies of all-time.
Included on the list are the Letterman/Palin battle, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare in Boston, the Smothers Brothers political controversy, the quiz show scandals, and a certain nipple that made a cameo appearance at a rather important sporting event.
The big debate right now regarding the healthcare plan is the concept of "death panels." Not sure where or when this first came up, though last night, Stephen Colbert pointed out it was from Sarah Palin's recent Facebook posting that brought it to the public.
The scary part? The reality competition show that Colbert mentions at the end of the clip is something that we'll probably see at some point.
Bill Scheft has been writing for David Letterman for years (as well as being a novelist), and in the video below, he gives a behind the scenes look at what it's like to write for the show, including how much input Letterman has, what he's looking for, and what jokes you shouldn't do. I wonder who wrote the Sarah Palin joke? (You can see Scheft most nights standing on the stage off to the right.)
The daytime segment of cable's first day concluded with four Turner-related panels: Joy Behar on her new HLN talk show; a CNN panel with John King, Christiance Amanpour, and Soledad O'Brien; a panel with Jerry Bruckheimer and the cast and producers of TNT's Dark Blue; and George Lopez, who is starting a new late night talk show on TBS.
Behar and Lopez bookended the session, and they were an interesting contrast. Two comedians, both opinionated, both with things to say about current events. But while Behar's gentle jabs played to mostly silence among the cranky writers in attendance, Lopez got more than a few of us to laugh. I've never been the biggest Lopez fan, but I have to admit, he was ready for us: he made most of us stand up to talk to him, he jostled us on our reluctance to be enthusiastic, and he was able to make pretty quick comebacks with ease. Must be the years of dealing with hecklers.
Anyway, after the jump, some details of Turner's day in Pasadena, including audio of an interview with O'Brien that I started with the word "cankles."
You knew that when Sarah Palin gave her incomprehensible farewell speech the other day the late night shows would jump on it. The Daily Show did it last night, and so did The Colbert Report. But I didn't expect William Shatner to add his semi-musical take. This is from last night's Tonight Show.
Tina Fey's surprise return to Saturday Night Live as Sarah Palin was one of the ten greatest TV moments of 2008 (and quite possibly the decade, the century, the millennium and the eon).
So it's no surprise that Fey's name and show 30 Rockcame up so many times in the recent list of Emmy nods. I'm no longer convinced that she's a woman. I'm convinced she's an experimental humanoid prototype designed by studio executives solely to win awards like Tom Hanks (aka "Project Red Shoe").
This is not a political post. Let me repeat that: this is not a political post. I just thought that Anderson Cooper was pretty funny in this clip from his show, trying to get information from Sarah Palin's spokesperson. She's a bit confusing and spokesperson-ish though, and at one point Cooper really does scratch his head.
Not only did the "Fire David Letterman" crowd completely fail at their attempt to oust the late night host from his desk chair, but they actually helped him.
That makes them the least successful protest effort since 1977's memorable campaign to "Keep Pies Away from Anita Bryant." I believe it had something to do with preventing the spread of diabetes.
Variety reports that Letterman surpassed The Tonight Show in the ratings for the first time in nearly three-and-a-half years while the whole Palin family "Jokegate" debacle was still slowly being scraped off the fan.
So there was still a "Fire David Letterman" rally last night outside the Ed Sullivan Theater. There were between 50 and 100 people there, some supporting Dave and some...well, not supporting him. Gawker and The Village Voice were there and documented what went down.
Dave didn't duck the protesters either. Here's his Top Ten list from last night. (And after the jump, a bonus: Lyle the intern!).
The shame (one of many) about David Letterman's tired, ham-fisted grasp at humor this past week regarding the daughters of Sarah Palin is that it's become such a political hot potato. It's gotten to the point where, despite the fact that Dave apologized and Palin accepted, Palin's supporters still want to see the late-night host fired.
Liberals point and say, "See! Conservatives can't take a joke. They're too bitter and uptight after losing the presidential election." Meanwhile, conservatives shout back that liberals are "out of touch with decency and only get offended when liberal women are attacked."
What both sides miss is that Letterman's clunky "knocked up" gag is a problem because it attacks a kid (be she 14 or 18, if you want to split hairs). While Sarah Palin is fair game and any comic or pundit can verbally knock around her "slutty flight attendant look" without fear of reprisal, it's an unwritten law that you don't go after the kids when doing political material.
A lot of dissecting and exploratory surgery has been done on the jokes that David Letterman made about the Palin family. Even after Dave apologized and Palin accepted, people still want to perform a comedy autopsy to figure out what Dave's intent was and why Palin was so vocal in her reaction to it.
The problem is it's an unnecessary surgery and it fails to attack the root of the problem while the real cancer spreads like a California wildfire. E.B. White once said about such procedures that, "Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it." The only reason this frog hasn't died is because someone wants to keep it alive and no one has dared to touch the heart.
This is the side I will debate in the never-ending Letterman vs. Palin "Joke-gate" controversy while our very own John Scott Lewinski will offer a rebuttal later in the day that a public figure's children should always be off-limits.
If your TiVo or DVR can't get enough of the syrupy charm of the former Alaska governor, you might want to install a memory upgrade. 
Sarah Palin has a memoir coming out next month, Going Rogue. And as part of what I'm sure will be a big media blitz promoting the book 
Joan Rivers was in Pasadena in July to promote her show on TV Land, 
No, I'm not talking about the first Darrin being replaced on Bewitched. I'm talking about real, big controversies that not only affected the TV world, but the real world, as well. AOL has chosen the 
The daytime segment of cable's first day concluded with four Turner-related panels: Joy Behar on her new HLN talk show; a CNN panel with John King, Christiance Amanpour, and Soledad O'Brien; a panel with Jerry Bruckheimer and the cast and producers of TNT's Dark Blue; and George Lopez, who is starting a new late night talk show on TBS.
Tina Fey's surprise return to 
Not only did the
The shame (one of many) about David Letterman's tired, ham-fisted grasp at humor this past week regarding the daughters of Sarah Palin is that it's become such a political hot potato. It's gotten to the point where, despite the fact that Dave apologized and Palin accepted, Palin's supporters 
A lot of dissecting and exploratory surgery has been done on the jokes that David Letterman made about the Palin family. Even after 
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